Research Catalog

Title

Too clever for our own good : hidden facets of human evolution / Kaoru Yamamoto.

Author

Yamamoto, Kaoru.

Publication

Lanham, Md. : University Press of America, ©2007.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

x, 146 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

"Too clever for Our Own Good closely studies the phenomenon of "evolution through culture." Unlike the "evolution through genetics," typical in other creatures, this uniquely human process hinges upon making and using myriad cultural extensions of our own creation, devices both material and nonmaterial. These concrete and abstract cultural extensions, such as clothing, shelter, tools, language, ethics, and social organizations, have enormously enhanced our capacity for controlling nature, other people, and ourselves. The author draws upon his own background in the natural and social sciences to examine a wide array of human experiences, ranging from the use of concrete technological inventions to that of more symbolic extensions like logic, metaphor, and self-image. In this exploration, attention is called not only to the constructive power of these "tools," but also, and more significantly, to their often overlooked, negative consequences. The critical analysis of the role of cultural extensions in human evolution is relevant for both general readers and students or specialists in human sciences and education."--Jacket.

Subject

• Evolutionary psychology
• Social evolution

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [127]-139) and index.

Contents

The long march -- Creations of the creature -- Falls the shadow -- The self-portrait -- Stories of life -- Devices of the storyteller -- Wayfarers, beware!

ISBN

• 9780761837619
• 0761837612
• 9780761837626
• 0761837620

LCCN

2007922675

OCLC

• ocn144612673
• 144612673
• SCSB-1445239

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library